GOF Chapter 10: Mayhem at the Ministry

[oryx_leucoryx]

Arthur is confident Mr Roberts will be alright, though at the moment he doesn't know which day it is, and worse. And Arthur knows that based on the extensive time he spent with Muggles, learning all about them and their culture? I doubt there is any long-term follow up on victims of Obliviation. How does Arthur know they don't develop some form of early-onset dementia later? Heck, maybe Mad Cow Disease is a front for Obliviation side-effects.

Molly is worried because of scary headlines in The Prophet. That's because she totally forgot to look at the living room clock where she could see that no family member was in mortal danger (or if any were for a while the danger was long over by the time she got the paper).

Rita Skeeter criticized the Ministry's lax security at the game. Last week she criticized Percy's cauldron project. And as we shall see later, earlier in the summer she called Dumbledore an obsolete dingbat. Does she have an agenda or is she an equal opportunity trouble-rouser? (Or perhaps she is in the process of upgrading from the latter to the former.)

Arthur keeps insisting nobody was hurt, but I can't forget those green flashes.

Molly tries to object to Arthur's going to the office to take care of the crisis when he is supposed to be on holiday. Percy doing the same is met with no reaction whatsoever.

Harry finally tells his friends about his dream, though as he expected they offer no help. Hermione disses Trelawney and her prophecy. Little does she know.

Sorry madderbrad (and other H/Hr shippers out there) but here we have evidence Hermione doesn't understand Harry all that well - not as well as Ron, at least. He does prefer playing Quidditch with the boys (Ginny? Who's that?) than going to bed early to worry.

Percy's help was in fact needed after all. (He reports no change in Crouch's behavior, though we know that by now Crouch has been placed under Imperius. Perhaps because at this point his instructions were 'act naturally'.) And kudos to Percy for catching Mundungus in his lie. This is the second mention of Mundungus before we learn he is an Order member. He gets a lot more foreshadowing than Sirius Black, though his role is significantly more minor.

Percy makes accusations against Arthur, Bill defends him citing his own run-in with Rita, but is countered by Molly who actually agrees with Rita's criticism of his hairstyle. Looks like Ms Skeeter has a talent for sowing discord that puts Voldie to shame.

Fred and George have already started their campaign to get Bagman to pay them with real money.

Bertha Jorkins' disappearance is finally serious business, once Rita found out about it (how dare she?). Now Arthur claims to have told Ludo to send someone to look for her. Hmm, he just asked him if there was any news of her and quickly shut up when Ludo said there wasn't. Can't afford to get on the bad side of the one who got you the tickets. It was Crouch who repeatedly asked for a search party.

You know, while Rita's style is annoying, she does catch instances of improper conduct at the Ministry. Maybe if she and her likes had better access to the goings-on people would be scared-straight and start doing things right. Though they'd probably only intensify the covering-up.

Hermione isn't of age yet so it is Molly who washes the socks.

Didn't Molly go shopping while the rest were at the match? So why is it that the first time either boy sets eye on the acquisitions it is the last night of vacation, 6 nights later?

I can understand Molly buying Harry more expensive robes than she bought Ron, since she was using his money for that, but that's still not a reason to buy Ron robes that were in bad taste, in a bad state, in the color he hates - and do nothing to improve them after the purchase. She did have 6 days for that. Any wonder locket-influenced!Ron believed his mother preferred Harry to him? (Now that I'm thinking about this - Molly treats Ron almost as badly or incompetently as Eileen treated Severus. Well, on the one hand, other than the dress robes Ron doesn't look visibly neglected, but on the other Severus seems to have been better informed about Hogwarts and magic than Ron. So perhaps it's a wash.)

Comments

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

You know, while Rita's style is annoying, she does catch instances of improper conduct at the Ministry.

It's a shame that Rowling didn't have a character who was a good, competent investigative reporter, rather than the caricature of a muckraking hack working for a scandal sheet that she gave us.

Now that I'm thinking about this - Molly treats Ron almost as badly or incompetently as Eileen treated Severus.

The major difference though is that Eileen only had one child, and Rowling doesn't give us enough of the Snape's domestic life for us to make any really informed decisions on what is going on. Young Severus' seeming neglect may have been solely due to his parents' poverty, but perhaps Eileen showed care and devotion in non-material ways.

Molly, OTOH, is shown to be reasonably attentive to all of her children, except for Percy and Ron, and with Percy it may just be a recent development. Ron, tho, is shown to be basically ignored by Molly, and to some extent by Arthur.

Rowling presents the Weasleys as a cliche of a large, happy family; she never presented the Snapes that way. As such, Molly's indifference and possible outright hostility towards Ron to me is way more onerous than Eileen's treatment of Severus.

[sunnyskywalker]

Just think - what if Percy had gone into the Ministry's equivalent of Internal Affairs? His dad could be mad at him for "persecuting" all the good people at the Ministry just trying to make an honest living trading Quidditch tickets for cover-ups and suspect him of leaking tips to reporters, and Voldemort still could have manipulated Percy's job for his own ends. Don't know whether they'd have let Crouch be boss of that department, since it might still be too much law enforcement power, but if not maybe he and the IA department head would coordinate a lot anyway (can't cooperate well with other magical nations if they're complaining that all your officials are corrupt, right?). Maybe those cauldron bottoms are part of a giant fraud scheme involving crooked cauldron producers and a corrupt safety inspector.

And then we could all pretend that sometime between Harry's sandwich and the epilogue, Percy cleaned up the wizarding world and all really was well.

[oryx_leucoryx]

Were the dodgy cauldrons Mundungus was dealing with in OOTP thin-bottomed ones?

Anyway, I like your ideas!

[charlottehywd.livejournal.com]

So Percy gets to be heroic behind the scenes while Harry gets the credit? Poor guy, he deserves better.

[dracasadiablo.livejournal.com]

It's a shame that Rowling didn't have a character who was a good, competent investigative reporter, rather than the caricature of a muckraking hack working for a scandal sheet that she gave us.

As a professional journalist I find Rowling's porters of reporter higly offensive.
She gave us :
Rita : Scandal chasing (crating), life destroying immoral cow.
Quibbler's editor Xeno Lovegood : Somebody who only believes in things everybody else mocks and who shows himself as a "week" person by "betraying" Harry and co.
Reporters working for the Daily Prophet : A bunch of petty, week "do as the government says without any regard for the truth" ass-kissers/ :(

Rowling presents the Weasleys as a cliche of a large, happy family
She wants us to see them that way but she fails.
Weasleys are a very dysfunctional family.

[sunnyskywalker]

And after all the nice things so many journalists said about her and the books, too! Sure there are bad journalists, but seriously, Jo, there are also good ones who do important work. Hermione with all her investigating practically has Future Girl Reporter written on her forehead, too*; it seems like she would be a shoo-in for joining the Daily Prophet staff someday and blowing the whistle on house-elf abuses and DEs who got away with it and corruption at the Ministry. So why can't we see a little more respect for the profession itself, even it not some of its particular representatives?

*Since Hogwarts doesn't appear to have a school paper. Which is a shame - that could have led to some good drama.

[dracasadiablo.livejournal.com]

Yes!
I was hoping that (before-DH)Hermione will one day work as a good report. Investigating and exposing all the corruption and all the ugliness of the WW but "All was well." so there's no need for something like that. *roll eyes*

[sunnyskywalker]

From the standpoint of GoF, it looks possible that with Hermione on the Prophet and Percy in Internal Affairs at the Ministry, they could have actually had a halfway convincing "all was well" ending. But no, Harry zapping Voldemort fixed everything.

How did they round up all the Dementors, anyway? Weren't they supposed to be loose and expanding their population?

[condwiramurs.livejournal.com]

Don't bother the Author or her Heroes with logic, now.

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

Don't bother the Author or her Heroes with logic, now.

Or history, math, or science, oh my!

[karentheunicorn.livejournal.com]

And don't forget JKR said in an interview you can't kill a dementor, they're apparently indestructable.

By that logic, Dementors should rule the world, not wizards or muggles.

[dracasadiablo.livejournal.com]

So, a large bunch of unkillable, happiness eating, soul sucking monsters are roaming the world?
All was well, indeed.

[karentheunicorn.livejournal.com]

So, a large bunch of unkillable, happiness eating, soul sucking monsters are roaming the world?

Yes, unfortunatly the world is filled with politicians who will say anything just to get your vote...

oh wait, you meant the dementors.

[charlottehywd.livejournal.com]

Good point! I forgot about the Dementors.

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

It's a shame that Rowling didn't have a character who was a good, competent investigative reporter, rather than the caricature of a muckraking hack working for a scandal sheet that she gave us.

Are we really so sure she gave us a muckraker? We never see Rita outside the "Harry filter." Harry likes the Weasleys; Rita has something against Arthur. She also has a lot to say about Dumbledore, little if any of it good; she writes critically about the same "heroes" we do when we criticize the series. Arthur takes bribes and covers up for his cronies, Dumbledore was an emotionally detached manipulator of the first water and, Harry's had some emotional issues (and why doesn't he have more, given his upbringing? Or is it just that we don't see those either, being stuck in his mind?) that she called him on, the same way we do.

Since all we ever see of her is from the viewpoint of someone she's gone after and who is friends (ultimately family) with someone she goes after, we don't get an unbiased view of her. One man's muck is another man's investigation.

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

One man's muck is another man's investigation.

"Muckraking" has nothing to do with the truth or fallacy of what is being reported on, but on the style of that reporting.

It doesn't matter that ultimately most of what Skeeter reported was indeed true -- Rowling doesn't present her as a serious investigative reporter, but as little more than a scandal mongerer...

What I'm saying is that it would have been nice to have had an intelligent, serious investigative journalist whom the author presented as a positive character.

[dracasadiablo.livejournal.com]

I agree that Rita is highly skilled investigator. But she is presented as malicious ("She'll go after you next, Hermione!"), scandal creating monster that needs to be punished. :(

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

It's easy to "create" scandals that are already there. And, of course she needed to be punished. She went after that epitome of good civil servitude, Arthur Weasley. :P

[dracasadiablo.livejournal.com]

I partly agree. Scandals like "Hagrid the half-giant", "Incompetent Ministry of Magic", "Missing Ministry employee", "Albus Dumbledore's dark past" and so on are already there no need to "create" them.
More those texts are believable.

But the whole "Hermione the evil seductress" thing was fabricated and makes Rita look like scandalmongering, tabloid reporter.

Beside, JKR wanted to present Rita as an epitome "evil cow" reporter but she fails at that too.

For example, the report about Triwizard champions is utterly absurd.
Rita ignores Cedric Diggory and writes only a few lines about Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour. Her "Triwizard champions" texts end up being "All about Harry "Tragic Hero" Potter."
The stupid part is, if she wanted to make Harry look tragic and to make the readers cheer for him she should have written more about the other champions.

She only needed to make a lot of insinuations like :
It's well known the Amos Diggory who works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures (Historic examples of use of Magical Creatures in Triwizard Tournament on page 6.) is very proud and even boastful of his son.
One have to wonder will he drop some hints about creatures that will be used, or even spells to subdue them, to Cedric.

International quidditch star Viktor Krum will be Durmstrang champion. Will the differences in Durmstrang's curriculum give him an edge over the other champions? (Durmstrang's reputation for teaching the Dark Arts on page 7.)

Lovely and talented Fleur Delacour will represent Beauxbatons. Miss Delacour is one-quarter Veela and it shows in her stunning good looks.
Indeed, the number of Hogwarts students following her around like lovesick puppies is astounding!
Ron Weasley the best friend of Harry Potter is not immune to her charms. Will his obvious interest in Miss Delacour damage his friendship with Harry? (Veela influence on wizards on page 8.)

[sunnyskywalker]

Those insinuations have just enough truth and sound in-character for Rita - why couldn't we have gotten them? Can't she even be a good muckraker?

[dracasadiablo.livejournal.com]

That shows one of the problems I have with the JKR as a writer. Most goof writers would ask a professional (for example, before writing a book about detectives / police solving a murder find a detective and have him/her tell you about proper procedure) for help.
O.k. there are no professional wizards (not like Harry Dresden would talk with her XD ) so she couldn't have asked anybody abut magic but reporters?
After the third book was published she could have had asked pretty much any reporter about the way to write a believable "muckraker".
But nope. We get Jo's amateurish muckraker instead. *roll eyes*

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

The stupid part is, if she wanted to make Harry look tragic and to make the readers cheer for him she should have written more about the other champions.

This.

On Viktor, too, being the international Quidditch star, who will help him under the table for autographs or endorsements? Who's in his pocket? Ludo Bagman's a has-been glad-hander and, btw, where has Bagman been?

This sounds more like a fail of Rowling's understanding of effective writing when you put all those unused examples out there. Didn't she do the same thing overall, give us All Harry, All The Time to the point where it was detrimental to a sympathetic portrayal?

[dracasadiablo.livejournal.com]

It could have been a phenomenal, long lasting, and much subtler smear campaign that's for sure.
After the first "Triwizard champions" text she could have done a followup or even a series of texts / reports all about Triwizard tournament.

In the second she could have written more about how "poor" Harry is such an underdog compered to others. With all examples of charms, spells and so on that Harry (who is only the forth year! think of the children!) haven't learned yet and all the others have.

After that it could have been how both HP's best friends are being seduced by Triwizard champions (Is Hermione under a Dark cures? Dosed with a love potion? What does Viktor, a grown man beloved by many fans (witches older and more beautiful then underage Miss Granger) wants from her? Is he after her brains or does he want her to spy on Harry for him?
And what about Ron Weasley who won't even talk with his, supposedly, best friend since Miss Delacour arrived at Hogwarts? Is she using her Veela influence on him? Not only him but all boys following her? Even the Ravenclaw's (House full of intelligent and studious youths) captain is bewitched by her beauty. Will he (and his house) help her find answers for the upcoming challenges?
Like all of that is not enough to trouble young Harry it looks like Cedric Diggory turned all Hogwarts students against him! Why, one can't wall down the Hogwarts corridors without seeing those horrible, "Support Cedric! Potter stinks!" badges!

Can you imagine the horror of all the Smothers? The ones with sons on Hogwarts would worry about evil, half Veela charms (btw. isn't it strange that a society with so much prejudice against half-anything accepts part Veela's without blinking? :/ ) and the ones with girls would worry about potions and dark art using pedophile.

[charlottehywd.livejournal.com]

(btw. isn't it strange that a society with so much prejudice against half-anything accepts part Veela's without blinking? :/ )

It's 'cause Veela are pretty, of course! Beauty=goodness!

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

I doubt if anything Rita wrote would have been read if she didn't have that over-the-top style. It's what the WW wants. That way, they can ignore the stuff that bothers them and/or hits home. But, at least, the truth was out there.